Lifelong Learning

During the month of June our display looks Lifelong Learning, practising mindfulness and re-energising. Lifelong Learning is described as ongoing, self-motivated, voluntary learning for personal or professional growth. 

Our displays explore the lifelong learning such as University of the third age, Mature students, Ruskin College, Open University Prisoners Education trust, National Retraining scheme and the learning available specific to Bedford: The Rothsay Education Centre, whihch offers courses for the over-50s that run from Ancient Greek and politics to the more usual watercolour classes and walking groups. High quality tutors are hired to provide courses for this fee-paying membership establishment.

Bedford campus 1st floor display

Mindfulness; a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.

Mindfulness: Bedford campus

Practise Mindfulness and energise the mind and body through different and accessible means; enrol on a course, download an app, find and follow a free exercise video on YouTube

The University’s own Re-energise programme is designed to support a healthy body and a healthy mind. 

Are you affected by low mood, mild to moderate anxiety, social anxiety or low self-esteem? Do you want to do something that may help you feel better? Improve your ability to study effectively? Take control of your life?  Enrich your relationships?  Find out more at:

UOB re-energise

Fika is a Mental Fitness app that offers a range of different courses that helps to improve and maintain several areas of your mental health, including: positivity, stress, confidence, focus, meaning and motivation – alongside developing tools to take charge of your life to improve and build up connections with others. 

You might want to try out one of the 24 instructor-led videos created by fitness experts via the NHS

There are exercises to tone your abs, arms and raise your heart rate. 

Workouts for new mums, Wake up! workout,  yoga, belly dancing - to name a few.

See what a few minutes a day can do for you and your wellbeing today!

Identity: who are you?

Reading for Pleasure: November 2021

Who do you think you are?

If you’ve ever watched the TV show with that title, you’ll know it focuses on folk who are in the public eye and explores their identity through their ancestors, taking us on a timeline journey to see some of their family history and give a glimpse of their cultural, social and economic heritage.

But how do we define ourselves? What does ‘Identity’ mean to you? 

This November our Reading for Pleasure theme is precisely that: 

IDENTITY 

The books and resources we have chosen this month reflect some of the different ways we think of ourselves when considering what makes us the person we are. Sometimes we will identify with a certain group and feel that it gives us a sense of belonging; at other times we feel our identity is what makes us unique, different from those around us. 

Here’s a taste of what you might find in our campus library displays during November and be sure to follow us on social media for updates and more: 

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Marjane Satrapi has lived through a lifetime of social and political upheaval in Iran and is still just a child. But what people present themselves as in public and who they are at home are often very different and what we witness in childhood goes with us as we grow.  

Library Catalogue link

Rio Ferdinand had found fame as a footballer and fortune in meeting and marrying the love of his life and starting a family together, but when she became ill he was forced to consider his role in life and whether he could cope with re-defining it as both Mum and Dad to his children.

Reserve a copy here

Students of the classic tales of Troy, as told in The Iliad and re-told countless times in book and on film, may be aware of the female protagonists Helen and Briseis, but have we ever heard the story from their perspective? 
Celebrated author, Pat Barker, attempts to paint a vivid picture of the last weeks of the Trojan War but considered from a different viewpoint and allowing readers to re-consider the roles these two women play in an intensely testosterone-fuelled story.

Library Catalogue link

These are just a tiny sample from what you can find in the libraries - look out for the displays and feel free to take a look and browse what we have on display and we hope you'll find something that is a change of pace from all the studying.

Luton Campus Library: Level 1

Luton: Reading for Pleasure 'Identity'

Bedford Campus Library: 1st Floor

Bedford Campus